Deck 6: Motivation and Performance

Question 1

Gain sharing increases work motivation because of pay-for-performance incentives and a greater sense of personal responsibility for making performance contributions to the organization.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

According to the integrated model of individual work motivation,a person's job performance is influenced most directly by individual attributes such as ability and experience,organizational support such as resources and technology,and effort or the willingness of someone to work hard at what they are doing.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Some people argue that merit pay plans are not consistent with the demands of today's organizations because they fail to recognize the high degree of task interdependence among employees.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Going to work sick is known as presenteeism.

Question 5

Profit sharing links pay and performance by giving workers the opportunity to share in productivity gains through enhanced earnings.

Question 6

Content theories are useful in the integrated model of motivation as guides to understanding individual beliefs and career aspirations.

Question 7

An emerging trend is the attempt to extend the awarding of cash bonuses to employees at lower levels in organization and in both managerial and non managerial jobs.

Question 8

Skill-based pay compensates people for the mix and depth of skills they possess.

Question 9

From an evaluative perspective,performance measurement lets people know where their actual performance stands relative to objectives and standards.

Question 10

The typical reward systems of organizations emphasize only intrinsic rewards.

Question 11

The incentive value of ESOP stock awards or purchases is based on the idea that the "employee owners" will be motivated to work hard so that the organization will perform well and its stock price will rise.

Question 12

Extrinsic rewards are positively valued work outcomes that an individual receives directly as a result of task performance.

Question 13

Motivation is a property of the organization; it is the organization's responsibility to guarantee that employees are motivated.

Question 14

Merit pay should clearly differentiate between high and low performers in the amount of pay received.

Question 15

A "merit" pay increase is the same as a "cost-of-living" adjustment.

Question 16

Profit-sharing plans reward employees based on the entire organization's performance.

Question 17

Potential advantages of skill-based pay include flexibility and employee cross-training while a potential disadvantage is higher training costs.

Question 18

Skill-based pay plans pay people for the particular job assignment they hold rather than the mix and depth of skills they possess.

Question 19

Intrinsic rewards are positively valued work outcomes that are given to an individual or group by some other person or source in the work setting.

Question 20

To work well,a merit pay plan should create a belief among employees that the way to achieve high pay is to perform at high levels.

Question 21

An advantage of the behaviorally anchored rating scale approach is that it is straightforward and relatively simple.

Question 22

A critical incident diary is not particularly well suited for employee development and feedback.

Question 23

A behaviorally anchored rating scale is a method of performance appraisal that records incidents of each subordinate's behavior that led to either unusual success or failure in a given performance aspect.

Question 24

To be meaningful,a performance appraisal system must be reliable and valid.

Question 25

In today's work environment,it is becoming more common to include peer evaluations in a performance appraisal process,where the persons in a work team or doing similar jobs rate an employee as a co-worker.

Question 26

Procter & Gamble uses the effort ? performance ? reward relationship in their management approach.

Question 27

Graphic rating scales,critical incident diaries,and behaviorally anchored rating scales are different types of comparative performance appraisal methods.

Question 28

Ranking is a method of performance appraisal that uses a small number of performance categories,such as "very good," "good," "adequate," and "very poor," and slots a certain proportion of people into each category.

Question 29

A forced distribution method of performance appraisal can be problematic if most of the employees are truly superior performers or if most of them perform at about the same level.

Question 30

Ranking is the most complex of all the comparative methods of performance appraisal.

Question 31

In a study conducted by Stauffer and Buckley,white supervisors gave significantly higher ratings to white workers than they did to black workers,while black supervisors also tended to favor white workers in their ratings.

Question 32

A 360? degree evaluation is a comprehensive approach to performance appraisal that uses the evaluations of bosses,peers,and subordinates as well as self-ratings,customer ratings,and ratings of others outside the immediate work unit.

Question 33

The strictness error is the tendency to give relatively high ratings to virtually everyone.

Question 34

All companies consistently use one type of performance appraisal system.

Question 35

Comparative methods of performance appraisal identify one employee's standing relative to others.

Question 36

Activity measures of performance assess actual work results.

Question 37

A halo error results when one person rates another person on several different dimensions and gives a similar rating for each dimension.

Question 38

A graphic rating scale lists a variety of dimensions thought to be related to high performance outcomes in a given job and that the individual is expected to exhibit.

Question 39

Four comparative performance appraisal methods are (1)ranking,(2)paired comparison,(3)forced distribution and (4)graphic rating scales.

Question 40

A forced distribution is a performance appraisal method whereby each person is directly compared with every other person being rated.

Question 41

Research results on the job characteristics model indicate that positive job characteristics impact performance more strongly for low-growth need individuals than for high-growth need individuals.

Question 42

Frederick Taylor and his contemporaries were primarily interested in job enlargement and job enrichment.

Question 43

Job enrichment increases job breadth by having the worker perform more and different tasks,but all at the same level of responsibility and challenge.

Question 44

Job enlargement occurs when task variety is increased by combining into one job,two or more tasks that were previously assigned to separate workers.

Question 45

Frederick Herzberg is a proponent of job enrichment,which is the practice of enhancing job content by building into the job more motivating factors such as responsibility,achievement,recognition,and personal growth.

Question 46

The machine-paced automobile assembly line is a classic example of job rotation.

Question 47

Job design is the process of planning and specifying job tasks and the work arrangements through which they are accomplished.

Question 48

Job rotation increases task variety by periodically shifting workers among jobs involving tasks of similar difficulty and responsibility.

Question 49

The job characteristics model identifies eight core job characteristics that are particularly important to job design.

Question 50

Flexible working hours (also called flextime)give employees a daily choice in the timing of their work commitments.

Question 51

A compressed workweek allows a full-time job to be completed in fewer than five standard workdays.

Question 52

The "best" job design is always the one that meets organizational requirements for high performance,offers a good fit with individual skills and needs,and provides opportunities for job satisfaction.

Question 53

According to the job characteristics model,task significance is the degree to which the job requires completion of a "whole" and identifiable piece of work,one that involves doing a job from beginning to end with a visible outcome.

Question 54

Job enlargement is designed to increase job breadth by having the worker perform more and different tasks,but all at the same level of responsibility and challenge.

Question 55

Implementing a job-design strategy of job simplification typically leads to lower rates of absenteeism and turnover.

Question 56

Implementing a job-design strategy of job simplification usually increases operating efficiency by reducing the number of skills required to do a job,and thereby keeps the needs for job training to a minimum and emphasizing the accomplishment of repetitive tasks.

Question 57

Central tendency occurs when managers lump everyone together around the average,or middle,category.

Question 58

The moderators in the job characteristics model include growth-need strength,knowledge and skill,and context satisfaction.

Question 59

Changes in a job that are designed to increase job depth are sometimes called vertical loading.

Question 60

In the core job characteristics model,the motivating potential score describes the extent to which the core characteristics of a job are capable of motivating people.

Question 61

__________ rewards employees based on the entire organization's performance.

A)A merit pay plan
B)A skill-based pay
C)A gain-sharing plan
D)A profit-sharing plan
E)A flexible benefits plan

Question 62

The awarding of cash bonuses is especially common in the __________ of organizations.

A)lower ranks
B)non-exempt levels
C)union members
D)senior executive ranks
E)contingency workforce

Question 63

__________ is a pay system that links pay and performance by giving the workers the opportunity to share in productivity gains through increased earnings.

A)Skill-based pay
B)Sanctioned pay
C)Performance pay
D)Gain sharing
E)Statutory pay

Question 64

A current trend in business today is __________.

A)an attempt to give bonus opportunities to both managerial and non-managerial jobs.
B)to eliminate global opportunities for advancement.
C)only give fixed pay to employees.
D)phase out the use of cash bonuses for management levels.
E)to only give cash bonuses to employees based in the United States.

Question 65

The research of Lawler generally concludes that __________.

A)Americans believe that they are paid more fairly than workers in other countries
B)pay must be combined with fringe benefits to create a significant total compensation package for employees
C)for pay to serve as a motivator,high levels of job performance must be viewed as the path through which high pay can be achieved
D)managers do not believe that they pay their workers enough money
E)workers do not feel that they are paid fairly

Question 66

According to the integrated model of individual work motivation,whether or not a work setting proves motivational for an individual depends on the __________.

A)support given by the individual's team members
B)level of pay the person receives
C)availability of rewards and their perceived value
D)amount of camaraderie the individual believes exist in the workplace
E)quality of supervision and direction the individual receives

Question 67

Although research supports the logic and theoretical benefits of merit pay,it also indicates that __________.

A)human resources specialists are necessary to administer merit pay plans
B)employees are overpaid for the jobs they perform
C)employees like merit pay plans
D)the implementation of merit pay plans is not easy
E)managers believe that merit pay plans properly reflect employee productivity

Question 68

Intrinsic rewards __________.

A)such as pay and benefits are important to employees
B)are exemplified by symbolic tokens of accomplishment such as posted award certificates
C)are positively valued work outcomes that are given to an individual or group
D)do not require the participation of another person or source in the work setting
E)are given to an individual or group by some other person or source in the work setting

Question 69

__________ are positively valued work outcomes that are given to an individual or group by some other person or source in the work setting.

A)Expected rewards
B)Implied rewards
C)Valence rewards
D)Extrinsic rewards
E)Intrinsic rewards

Question 70

The typical reward systems of organizations emphasize __________.

A)a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards
B)only intrinsic rewards
C)only extrinsic rewards
D)only intrinsic rewards for high-level positions
E)only extrinsic rewards for high-level positions

Question 71

In permanent part-time work,a person works less than the standard 40-hour workweek but is considered to be a permanent member of the organization's workforce.

Question 72

Bill is an employee at Burgers-Are-Us.He works hard each and every day so that his picture may be displayed in the restaurant lobby and that he might earn the title "Employee-of-the-Month." Bill is motivated by __________ rewards.

A)expected
B)implied
C)valence
D)extrinsic
E)intrinsic

Question 73

In today's economy,more and more employers are requiring their employees to be at work to ensure productivity; therefore,telecommuting is on the decline.

Question 74

All of the following statements about gain sharing are true EXCEPT:

A)gain sharing plans decrease personal responsibility.
B)gain-sharing plans involve a specific measurement of productivity combined with a calculation of a bonus designed to offer workers a share of any increase in total organizational productivity.
C)gain sharing increases work motivation because of pay-for-performance incentives.
D)with gain sharing,employees have a greater sense of personal responsibility for making performance contributions to the organization.
E)gain sharing encourages workplace cooperation and teamwork.

Question 75

According to the integrated model of individual work motivation,a person's job performance is influenced most directly by all of the following EXCEPT:

A)ability.
B)experience.
C)work effort.
D)organization support such as resources and technology.
E)supervision

Question 76

Organizations benefit from job sharing when they can attract talented people who would otherwise be unable to work.

Question 77

Which of the following statements does NOT accurately describe what is needed to make a merit pay plan work well?

A)Merit pay should be based on realistic and accurate measures of individual work performance.
B)Merit pay should create a belief among employees that they must perform at high levels to achieve high pay.
C)Merit pay should be higher for those employees whom the manager personally favors.
D)Merit pay should clearly differentiate between high and low performers in the amount of pay received.
E)Managers should avoid confusing "merit" aspects of a pay increase with "cost-of-living" adjustments.

Question 78

Merit pay is an attempt to make pay contingent upon __________.

A)tenure in the organization
B)specific competencies
C)a willingness to acquire and develop job related skills
D)performance
E)years of experience in the industry

Question 79

Jason works as a social worker at a local hospital.He loves his job and derives great satisfaction from feeling as though he has helped others and made a difference in the community.Jason is motivated by __________ rewards.

A)unexpected
B)implied
C)outside
D)extrinsic
E)intrinsic

Question 80

Some people argue that __________ are not consistent with the demands of today's organizations because they fail to recognize the high degree of task interdependence among employees.

A)gain-sharing plans
B)merit pay plans
C)skill-based pay plans
D)profit sharing plans
E)fringe benefit plans